Obama, Obama, Obama and BloombergThis being a nonpresidential election, President Obama is not on the ballot, but you wouldn’t know it from this year’s campaign. Obama and his “job-killing agenda” apparently are running for U.S. Senate, along with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Obama is running for Congress. He’s running for lieutenant governor. He’s probably running for your local offices too. There’s a reason why Arkansas Republicans continue to tie Democrats to t...

Clean Line respondsI would like the opportunity to address recent comments made regarding the Plains & Eastern Clean Line transmission project. We are developing the project in a collaborative, methodical and transparent manner. The Plains & Eastern Clean Line electric transmission line project will deliver wind energy from the Oklahoma Panhandle, where it is abundant and inexpensive, to Arkansas and other states in the Mid-South and Southeast. The project’s mor...

Realtor murder raises many questionsThe shocking murder of North Little Rock real estate agent Beverly Carter has raised many questions about how such a tragedy could happen and what we can do to prevent similar ones. Accused in the murder, Arron Lewis, 33, told reporters while being taken to jail that he targeted Carter because “she was just a woman that worked alone — a rich broker.” It’s impossible to explain the reasoning of a psychopath, which Lewis must be to commit such a...

Justices signal skepticism on voter IDLITTLE ROCK — If their questions during oral arguments last week are any indication, some Arkansas Supreme Court justices are skeptical about the idea that the state’s voter ID law amounts to merely a verification of registration and not a new requirement for casting a ballot. It’s an encouraging sign to voter ID opponents, but they still may wind up with a verdict that could leave unsettled the law’s constitutionality until after the November...

Police: Worker hid $1,200 worth of meat in pantsA New York supermarket employee has been accused of leaving the store with $1,200 worth of meat hidden in his pants. State police said Gregory Rodriguez, of Ossining, was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny. Rodriguez works at the A&P in Croton-on-Hudson. Police were called Monday about the theft. Rodriguez was arrested Tuesday. A state police spokeswoman, Trooper Melissa McMorris, said the theft occurred in one day. She did not know if i...

Second Punic Wars, continuedThis is the third part in a series on the Punic Wars. A lot has happened. I’ve skimmed the surface and I’ll have to continue to do so. The most interesting thing to me about all three Punic Wars are the family storylines. In the first Punic War, you have Hamilcar forcing his son Hannibal to swear a blood oath against the Romans. Hannibal spent his entire life with a seething hatred of the empire across the Mediterranean. He was bred to cross t...

Good news from the MarketplaceLITTLE ROCK — For too many years, when Arkansans talked about the price of their health insurance, good news was rare. For decades, costs have increased annually, hurting working families and leading to many companies dropping coverage for employees. Far too many of our people were left unable to make ends meet and still pay for insurance. Fortunately, circumstances have changed for many of those families who now obtain coverage through the st...

College, university enrollment down 1 percentLITTLE ROCK — Enrollment at Arkansas colleges and universities is down 1 percent from last year, according to a report from the state Department of Higher Education. The overall decline is most notable at two-year colleges, which saw their enrollment go down from 56,116 students last year to 53,470 this year. That is a percentage decrease of 4.7 percent. Four-year universities saw a slight increase in student populations, from 97,688 last year...

by
State Capitol Week in ReviewThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

The culture of passing the buckThe director of the Secret Service, Julia Pierson, was questioned this past Tuesday by members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding lapses in Secret Service Performance. The hearing focused primarily on an incident that took place on Sept. 19. Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, allegedly jumped the White House fence, ran across the White House lawn, ran up a flight of stairs and through the North Portico door. He then alleged...

Response to Allen on Plains and Eastern Clean LineI am responding to the letter by Dr. Bob Allen regarding the Plains and Eastern Clean Line electrical transmission line. Will any of Dr. Allen’s property be affected by these lines? Is that why it is easy for him to say how little affect this will have on Arkansas? Only 8,000 acres he said. Has he looked at the route maps? There are people’s homes within those routes. Only a 200-foot-wide right-of-way, he said. That is comparable to another in...

A toothpick in a lumber yardAccording to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau report, my hometown of Conway is the fastest-growing big city in our state. Of course you realize that “big” is a relative term. Our city grew at a rate of 8.3 percent from 2010-13, and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon. Our Chamber of Commerce president told me the population is now around 65,000. It was something more than 30,000 when we moved to this area in 1984. Local officials attrib...

No transmission lineThe Arkansans that I have spoken to do not want Plains and Eastern Overhead High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Transmission Towers running across their property nor on their neighbors. Bob Allen stated the 200-foot-wide right-of-way easements have a relatively small footprint because they are direct current. It’s only 8,000 acres of actual land taken out of service across Arkansas, and much of that is grazing and hay fields, which are essentia...

Obama spreads the blame around for ISIS rise“No one should be ashamed to admit they are wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that they are wiser today than they were yesterday.” — Alexander Pope President Obama is known for wanting to “spread the wealth around,” but he has now gone a step further. He is spreading blame around for his failure to notice the rapid rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. On “60 Minutes” last Sunday night, the president, who tends to use the personal pronoun ...

Transmission LineAllow me to begin by expressing my respect for Dr. Allen. He and I agree on many issues. Unfortunately, the proposed Plains & Eastern HVDC transmission line is not one of them. He’s correct when he says this fight is about the future. It is not, however, only about the future of carbon emissions in our country, but also about the future of property rights: whether it is appropriate for the federal government to partner with private, for-profit...

Random thoughtsRandom thoughts on the passing scene: What a non-judgmental society amounts to is that common decency is optional -- which means that decency is likely to become less common. The biggest issue in this fall’s election is whether the Obama administration will end when Barack Obama leaves the White House or whether it will continue on, by appointing federal judges with lifetime appointments who share his contempt for the Constitution. Whether suc...

Everyone’s an extra, even in CongressI’m not the good guy. Neither are you. And neither are Mark Pryor nor Tom Cotton. I bring that up because we’re in the middle of a campaign season where television ads, and many news providers, treat what should be a statewide job interview, instead like a TV show. Americans are fed a steady diet of fiction. Movies, books and TV shows often feature three elements: a protagonist who is the hero, an antagonist who is the villain, and extras. Exc...

No quick fix for Arkansas teachersHOT SPRINGS — Low pay and high insurance premiums are such big problems within the Arkansas public school system that, even given a chance to make a bold promise during a heated political campaign, the state’s leading candidates for governor couldn’t do so before a teachers’ group last week. Republican Asa Hutchinson and Democrat Mike Ross stood for a time as sounding boards at a meeting of the Arkansas Public School Resource Center met in Hot...

Two proposed amendments aren’t neededAmong the ballot issues that we will face in the Nov. 4 general election are three constitutional amendments referred from the General Assembly’s regular session of 2013. That’s the maximum number allowed per session, which is probably one of the best restrictions of all in our 1874 Constitution. In this column I’ll review the first two, which will be on the ballot as Issue No. 1 and Issue No. 2. Those are fairly simple; Issue No. 3 is quite c...

Great night for TV historyOn Sunday night, a special moment occured in television history that millions waited years to take place. I would put it right up there with the Apollo 11 moon landing — that’s the caliber of “wow” I’m talking about. For the first time, the Griffins from the Fox hit show “Family Guy” visit “The Simpsons” in Springfield. Bart Simpson and Stewie Griffin. Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin. Marge Simpson and Lois Griffin. Lisa Simpson and Meg Griffi...

The Second Punic WarThis is the second part of a series on the Punic Wars. For part one, see the Sept. 21 edition of The Courier. Imagine you’re a Roman. For the most part, you’ve never been outside Italy. If you’re in the navy, you’ve seen much of the Mediterranean, but not much else. You probably grew up in a small village or city that was absorbed into the Roman Empire sometime during your lifetime or your parent’s lifetime. You feel safe. The Roman army, by n...